Entertainment Essentials: September 7, 2018

Every Friday, NewsCult Entertainment Editor Jeffrey Malone recommends the entertainment essentials of the week – at least three, often more, and usually at least one cinematic and at least one televisual, but it could be ANY combination.

1. Movie: The Nun (Theatrically Nationwide) – The Nun isn’t a great movie, but it is worth watching if you, like me, make it a point to see as many new horror movies as possible, no matter how horrifying – or horrible – they look. Fans of The Conjuring universe might get a kick out of how this spinoff ties into the rest of theiseries. Or they might roll their eyes at how strained those efforts are. And rolling your eyes at a movie, after all, is a cherished pastime for many.

2. TV: Rel Series Premiere (September 9 on FOX) – Lil Rel Howery has earned plenty of fans for his work in Get Out and The Carmichael Show, and now that the latter has ended its run on NBC, it’s time for him to star in his own sitcom. He plays a newly single father on the West Side of Chicago dealing with the fallout of his wife’s affair with his barber. In other words: betrayal of the highest order by both parties. Also, Sinbad plays Rel’s dad, and deep down, we all know that we cannot have too much Sinbad in our lives.

3. TV: Kidding Series Premiere (September 9 on Showtime) – Jim Carrey has immortalized himself in the comedy pantheon with some of the most uproariously goofy performances of the last few decades. But there has always been something deeper and melancholy lurking underneath that mugging exterior. He is playing right into that juxtaposition with this new series featuring direction from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind helmer Michel Gondry. Carrey plays Jeff Pickles, the host of a long-running PBS children’s show dealing with the fallout of the death of one of his sons. It’s a bittersweet mix of comfort and harsh reality that will hopefully be as fulfilling as Carrey and Gondry’s previous great works.

News Cult Entertainment Editor Jeffrey Malone is an entertainment writer/reporter/critic/thinkpiecer/listmaker. He is still working his way through every SNL episode that aired before he was born. He can be reached at [email protected]